


i felt so symbolic yesterday

by luvloic



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, High School, M/M, Pining, Strangers to Lovers, chansoo alas, ok theyre all stem kids who wanna be engineers and i live for that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23775241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvloic/pseuds/luvloic
Summary: Kyungsoo simultaneously meets his new best friend and the love of his life in the form of Park Chanyeol.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 12
Kudos: 114





	i felt so symbolic yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> first, hi welcome, thank u for comin here! title is from the song Mr. Jones by counting crows!
> 
> second: i make some references to SKY schools and i figure it's not common knowledge so i'm going to explain: they're the top three universities in S. Korea: Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei! voila!
> 
> ok, enjoy! <3

When Do Kyungsoo first entered high school, he knew exactly what he was doing for the next four years of his life. His parents were excited that he had such a strong interest in engineering and were even more thrilled when he accepted the invitation he received to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program. 

The school had bragged about how advanced their program was, how they had a workshop just for STEM kids, and how this was the best opportunity for students looking for a career in the field after high school. Kyungsoo couldn't really testify to anything else, so he guessed it rang true, but it's exactly how he fumbled into his friendship with Park Chanyeol. 

STEM kids all had the same base classes beginning with engineering, so when Kyungsoo walked in the door of their computer lab, he met the kids he'd be graduating with four years from then with the same credentials as him: a short kid with gelled spikes in his hair and sharp eyes who went by the name Kris, a pretty tall boy with flat black hair and a happy smile named Yixing, a handsome kid with charm practically melting off of him named Baekhyun, and lastly, the tallest of the group with wire glasses sitting on his nose and chubby cheeks: Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol was cracking down on Japanese homework when Kyungsoo first met him. Kyungsoo chose his seat closest to the wall, setting down his bags and binder on the desk when a hand stuck out in front of his downcast gaze.

"Hi, I'm Chanyeol."

Kyungsoo looked up to see the boy in front of him who had the biggest smile adorning his face, holding out a hand to greet him. 

Kyungsoo took it wearily. "Kyungsoo. Nice to meet you."

Chanyeol laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "I can tell we're gonna be good friends." 

And for some reason that stuck with Kyungsoo for a while.

After that, it seemed, somehow, that Chanyeol was right. Kyungsoo never had a best friend before, but it seemed Chanyeol became what he'd been missing his entire life: late night FaceTiming, sharing playlists, infinite sleepovers. 

It was this instant connection that dragged them through high school together.

Kyungsoo watched as the other only grew taller and taller, sprouting up like a beanstalk. The baby fat on their cheeks melted away, and Chanyeol cut his hair. 

But some things never changed when Kyungsoo looked back on it. Kyungsoo never wavered in getting every piece of homework done. They both never sat in the lunchroom to eat lunch (because they forced their counselors to adjust their schedules if they didn't end up in the same lunch periods). And Chanyeol had always sucked at math ("I don't suck at it!" The taller had whined over FaceTime one evening. "I just struggle, okay?"). 

Statistics plagued Chanyeol's nightmares apparently, which is why Kyungsoo began "helping" Chanyeol out regularly their sophomore year (It basically tutoring, but Kyungsoo didn't mind like Chanyeol claimed he did.).

STEM sort of left them all in the same variation of base courses each year, so it wasn't like it was a drastic problem for Kyungsoo, but it also meant that they could count on each other if (or in Chanyeol's case when) they needed help. 

These tutoring sessions usually occurred at Kyungsoo's house because he despised how messy the taller was, and it wasn't a vast deviation from their normal time together. 

However, it was these tutoring sessions that led to Kyungsoo's downfall. The way he grew taller was the same way lean muscle slithered up Chanyeol's large frame, the same way his jawline sharpened, the same way he grew from an awkward kid to this over-confident, way too attractive snake charmer. 

It hurt a little when he got his first girlfriend, Kyungsoo will admit. It was these same-old girls with heart eyes for his looks and nothing else, who didn't see how smart he was, or how goofy he was, or how god-awful he was at calculus, and it fucking hurt. 

But Chanyeol seemed happy and that was enough for Kyungsoo. Chanyeol was head over heels for her: following her to her classes, ditching some of their tutoring sessions for her, leaving little letters and notes in her locker. Once, it even made Kyungsoo's eyes water when he caught them in the hallway together, kissing against the wall. 

It hurt even more though, when it ended. Kyungsoo has never hated anyone more for the way Chanyeol moped for months. His smile vanished, his eyes were always red from crying, and his heart was broken.

The summer between sophomore and junior year is when he began dating his second girlfriend. She despised Kyungsoo. She made fun of how he "couldn't get girls" and absolutely detested all the time he spent with Chanyeol. Maybe she was suspicious, who knows. All he does know is Chanyeol dropped her a month later. 

Karma's a bitch, what can he say.

Kyungsoo never got over him, though. It's these same loops of thought about his best friend that made him feel disgusting sometimes because of how whipped he was. Daydreams of them together, of Chanyeol's arm around him followed him like storm clouds.

And after his second girlfriend though, Chanyeol seemed content. It was perhaps the time they bonded the most because Chanyeol never had any distractions anymore. 

They spent that summer cooped up in each other's houses or in Chanyeol's new car when he finally got his permit. Late nights next to each other, playing video games, or finalizing plans for their junior year engineering projects.

Kyungsoo wasn't stupid enough to think they were dating but sometimes... if he closed his eyes and listened to Chanyeol's breathing next to him, it felt like they were. 

For just a moment. 

+++

A hot summer later, they walked into their junior year where they met Chanyeol's worst enemy: Advanced Placement Calculus II.

Kyungsoo laughed at how exhausted Chanyeol pretended to be after they finished their first tutoring session of the year. It was literally their first homework worksheet and he was already throwing a tantrum.

However, the day came that their camaraderie worked to their advantage.

The minute their teacher announced they could choose their own partners, Chanyeol's gaze had snapped to Kyungsoo like magnets. Kyungsoo was still penciling his name on the paper when his eyes caught Chanyeol. Just a simple nod and then back to his paper. 

They split the packet in half, Chanyeol with the front two pages and Kyungsoo with the back two, and got to work typing away at their calculators.

But someone wanted to make a racket.

"Can you knock it off?" Kyungsoo says, agitated at Chanyeol next to him who's busy tapping his pencil against the desk beneath them. 

Chanyeol drops his pencil as his cheeks color. "Sorry."

Kyungsoo continues to work, sighing in frustration when he types in the wrong variable for his derivative, frantically restarting the equation. He glances at Chanyeol out of the corner of his eye, who is looking at the small work on his paper and twiddling his pencil between his fingers. 

And his brow is furrowed. Infamously. 

Kyungsoo finishes, truncating his answer before turning to Chanyeol and flipping to the front page of his packet. "What's up?"

Chanyeol startles, dropping his pencil. "Nothing's up." 

"What are we doing for number one?" Kyungsoo's reading over the problem, his pencil circling key words as he goes. 

"Uh, well. We're trying to find the rate so I was taking the antiderivative first of the starting equation when you first set it up." He's fumbling through his words. 

"And how far did you get with that?" Kyungsoo says. He's trying not to be degrading with his words because that helps no one, but it's almost like Chanyeol hasn't been listening in their tutoring for the past two weeks. Derivatives first, organize and cancel out, and then antiderivatives. 

Chanyeol pauses. "Not very." He murmurs under his breath. 

"Where are you stuck?" Kyungsoo leans over and is following his work with his pencil again already knowing where he's stopped.

"I can't even out my derivatives on either side but it's fine I'll figure it out." Chanyeol says dismissing his help. 

"Here just lemme look and then we can both keep going." Kyungsoo smiles at him and puts his pencil on the derivative of the 2x sitting on the right of the equal sign. "Right here, you didn-"

"Kyungsoo, I don't need your help." Chanyeol says. 

"I..." Ouch. "Okay." He sits back in his chair and flips to his pages again. "If you need anything, I'm right here."

Chanyeol ignores him and goes back to penciling in his answers, skipping the problem he was stuck on, and Kyungsoo focuses back on his work. 

Kyungsoo is running around mentally at why Chanyeol was refusing his help, wondering what he did wrong and why he was mad at him when he feels a tap at his shoulder. 

"I lied. I, uh, d-do need your help." Chanyeol says, red in the face and embarrassingly staring down at his packet. "Sorry."

"It's okay." He says, grinning and leaning over again. 

+++

After that, it was the small things that Kyungsoo noticed off about the other. He never talked about girls anymore, and he started drinking black coffee like Kyungsoo did. Their two-times-a-week tutoring sessions dissipated to once a week sometimes, despite the time they spent together remaining the same. Chanyeol started FaceTiming him nightly if they weren't together, and Kyungsoo caught him staring at him more often than not. 

It wasn't weird per se, more just... different. Not unwelcome, by any means. Maybe Kyungsoo was even flourishing under the attention, judging by the way he was dressing a little nicer or even actually styling his hair in the morning. 

It's nice being seen sometimes, Kyungsoo decides. 

However, it was a little odd how it went on for months from that incident in math. There was no way Chanyeol wasn't at least the smallest bit confused in calculus, and the weird things only increased in weirdness as the time passed. 

One night, it was late on a Friday evening and they had just finished dinner at Chanyeol's house. Scrambling up the stairs, Kyungsoo plops in front of the television in his room after Chanyeol settles on his bed. He's messing around playing Final Fantasy when he feels Chanyeol's gaze burning into the side of his face. 

"What?" Kyungsoo turns, looking at him. 

"I didn't say anything." Chanyeol says, eyes flickering over the smaller's face. 

"I know, you're staring at me." 

"What, n-no I'm not!" He's blushing in the blue light of the screen. "I'm watching the game!" 

"You're watching me play the game. I can feel your eyes burning into my skull." Kyungsoo laughs.

Chanyeol blushes further, his face scrunching up like it does when he lies. "I am not! I'm literally watching the game!"

"Chanyeol, you silly goose," thinking I can't read you after three years. Kyungsoo pauses the game and turns around to face him, sitting with his legs pretzeled in front of him. "Whatcha really up to?"

"I was just thinking, that's all." He says. His eyes are still picking apart Kyungsoo's face, wandering across his features. 

Kyungsoo scoots closer, leaning against the bed. "Thinking about what?"

"I... Kyungsoo, we're best friends, right?" Chanyeol's eyes glaze over with water, and something akin to worry dances across his face. "Because you're one of the best people I've ever met, you know that right? I really never want to lose you as a frie-"

He’s visibly getting worked up and Kyungsoo cups his face delicately with a gentle hand. 

"Of course we are, 'Yeol." Kyungsoo says, looking into his glassy eyes. "Are you really okay? You seem off." 

He scrunches his eyes tightly, and tears slip down his cheeks, falling to the bedsheets, and Kyungsoo's thumb wipes the streaks away. 

"I need you to promise you won't leave." He says, desperate. "Please."

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried, Chanyeol." Kyungsoo laughs lightly, stroking his cheek. 

"I think I'm gay." He's shaking through shuddery breaths.

Kyungsoo tries to hold in his surprise. "Oh? That's totally fine! Why would I leave for that?" 

"Because, i-it's weird! It's not normal, and I shouldn't feel this way and," He lets out a deep breath. "I don't even know anymore." 

"Can I tell you a secret?" Kyungsoo's still looking at him when he nods slightly. 

They sit in silence for a minute before Kyungsoo works up his courage. 

"I'm gay, too." He whispers. He doesn't know where his nerves came from all of a sudden but all of a sudden they slam into him full force. The cat was out of the bag... he had to deal with it whether he liked it or not now. 

"You know? For sure?" Chanyeol looks amazed and he's still sniffling. 

Kyungsoo nods his head with a bittersweet smile crawling across his lips, thumb still stroking Chanyeol's cheek. "I've known for a while." 

"How long?" He asks. Chanyeol's taking this better than Kyungsoo expected, but he also can't really wrap his head around the fact that both of them.... wow. 

"Uhh, it's been almost three years now." Kyungsoo says. 

"Well, how'd you find out?" Chanyeol asks, then he gasps. "Oh my god! Have you dated someone?" 

"Pfft, no. I just don't... like women sexually I guess. I don't know. I never look at women and want to like... be with them. I've only ever had eyes for men." Kyungsoo says. 

"But who was it that made you know?" Chanyeol asks, eyes wide.

Kyungsoo starts blushing and breaks their gaze, removing his hand before putting a little space between them. "No one, I just realized." 

"But there had to be someone that made you realize that you wanna bang or something?" Jesus, he wasn't letting this go. 

"I..." He snaps his eyes up for just a second and Chanyeol is analyzing him all over again. "I can't remember." 

A premium lie. 

"Oh, come on! I know you know!" Chanyeol leans closer and twists his head to read his face. "Who is it? Kris? Baekhyun?" 

"Chanyeol, that's enough, stop it." Kyungsoo's cheeks are getting redder by the second. Chanyeol's grabbing his face. 

"C'mon! Tell me!" Chanyeol pleads. "Pleeeeeease?" 

Kyungsoo laughs and shoves his shoulder. "Shut up, you moron." 

Chanyeol whines and tugs his sleeve. "Tell me! Just tell me, I'm dying of curiosity now." 

"I'll tell you if you tell yours first." Kyungsoo says. 

"I-" Chanyeol pauses and blushes. "Nevermind, then." 

"Not allowed! Now you have to tell me, what!" Who did he think he was? He can't leave him hanging like that! 

"I'm sorry, I can't." Chanyeol laughs awkwardly. His energy had melted out of him, leaving him mellow on his bed and his features soft. His excitement had all but disappeared. 

Who could it be? 

Kyungsoo's feeling nosy so he gives it up and crawls into bed with him after changing into his pajamas. They're face to face, and Chanyeol's eyes are closed as his music plays faintly in the background. 

The moonlight is filtering through Chanyeol's shades and sprinkling across his cheekbones so the boy looks almost etheral before Kyungsoo's eyes. 

"Hey, Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asks. 

"Hm?"

"You know I'd never judge you right? For who you like?" Kyungsoo says. "Or for who you are?"

Chanyeol's eyes flutter open and a gentle smile graces his lips. "I know."

They fall into silence again and Kyungsoo's eyes fall closed, tired with sleep. It could've been minutes, or maybe it was hours, before Chanyeol shifts next to him.

"Hey, Kyungsoo?" 

Kyungsoo opens his eyes. "Hm?" 

"It's you." Chanyeol says, looking him dead in the eye.

"What?" 

"You're my person." Chanyeol blushes at his words and Kyungsoo's eyebrows shoot up. No way. This was not happening. 

"Are you serious?" Kyungsoo was dead serious, eyes wide as he scanned Chanyeol's face for any sign that he was lying. His nose wasn't scrunching like usual. 

"I... yeah. You've been my person for a while." Chanyeol murmurs quietly. 

"Chanyeol, you better not be joking." Kyungsoo's fixing him with a dead stare. 

"I'm not, I promise." Chanyeol's eyes are glistening. 

"I'm serious, Chanyeol." There's nothing giving in his face, no twitches, no nose scrunches, no brow furrow. 

"So am I." Kyungsoo's eyes water at the words.

His eyes blink close again as tears work their way past his waterline. "You, really can't be lying to me Chanyeol." His voice gives him away, cracking halfway through. He shakes his head. "You can't just mess with me because we're friends. I know you don't mean to hurt me but it's hurts so fucking bad, I-"

And Chanyeol kisses him, gently meeting their lips. 

He pulls him close and slides his arms around his waist, pushing their tongues together.

When they break apart, they're both panting whilst wrapped up in one another, forehead against forehead. Kyungsoo can feel the ghost of his lips moving against his like a prayer.

"You've been my person for almost three years now." Kyungsoo pants into the darkness between them.

Chanyeol chuckles, and mimics Kyungsoo's earlier actions, caressing his face. "Well that makes this a lot less awkward." 

Kyungsoo laughs, happy tears trickling down his cheeks, and Chanyeol wipes them. Kyungsoo basks in the idea of them, together. Chanyeol's presence next to him is enough to bring a smile to his lips. 

"So are we boyfriends now? Is that what this is?" Kyungsoo ponders in the dark, the moonlight their only friend. 

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?" Chanyeols asks, and Kyungsoo can see traces of the moonlight reflecting in the shine of his eyes.

"Of course I do, I just- ah, how about we just take it slow and just... let it sink in." Kyungsoo says slowly, choosing his words carefully. 

Kyungsoo laughs as Chanyeol squeezes him tighter, throwing a leg over his waist before leaving kisses along his neck. "Wait, let me turn around." 

"Okay boyfriend." Chanyeol says, loosening his grip before relaxing into him again. "I love being the big spoon, ah this is the best." He sighs into his neck as they settle into one another.

Kyungsoo huffs, smiling.

+++

It was certainly a different dynamic between them as a couple. Everything he had ever daydreamed about being in a relationship with Chanyeol happened whether it was the silly little love notes slid into his textbooks when he wasn't looking or the taller cornering him in an empty hallway between classes. 

And he absolutely loved every second of it.

Heat rushes to his cheeks when he thinks back to their precious moments and he can't help but smile. Chanyeol had been so excited in announcing their relationship that Kyungsoo worried a little at first at potentially receiving backlash. 

But nothing came. 

In fact, it was almost like the entire school was in love with Chanyeol's every move, watching their relationship like some kind of romantic comedy. And while it was most certainly unexpected, it wasn't disappointing. Just a curve ball. 

Chanyeol, though? He was thriving under the attention. He's completely enamored with Kyungsoo's everything: tapping him on the shoulder when they're studying together just to kiss him when he turns his head, plucking the beginning chords to the smaller's favorite songs on his guitar because he knows he'll start singing, bringing him coffee in the morning. Everyday it's something new that he never knew he'd find so much adoration for.

He was the happiest Kyungsoo had ever seen him with his face always glowing and his cheeks always slightly flushed. It's amusing watching how pleased he is all the time, yet so fucking attractive the calmness that follows him. Content, really. He's this cool and collected, confident and assured beautiful boy and Kyungsoo quite honestly doesn't know how he got so lucky as to fall into being the object of his affections. 

These affections were what made all the waiting, all the pushing, all the pining worth it because in the end, they're everything Kyungsoo ever wanted. They were cuddling late one night, the chill in early January air leaving Chanyeol wrapped around him like a puppy, when he realized this was all going almost too smoothly. 

And then it hit like a ton of bricks. College.

"Chanyeol, what are we going to do for university?" Kyungsoo murmurs into his chest. 

They were both extremely intelligent, no doubt, but if one of them got into a SKY school over the other, it was going to be Kyungsoo. He cared more about school so he naturally had better grades, but Chanyeol definitely wasn't far behind. It also made it somewhat easier since they both were in the engineering program, meaning they'd both be in the same major if they did get into the same school.

“I… don’t know. I sort of presumed we were going to the same school, but I haven’t thought that far ahead.” Chanyeol loosens his arms around the other and looks down to see the worried look on Kyungsoo’s face. 

Of course he hadn’t. Chanyeol didn’t worry about these things. Kyungsoo knows this.

“But what if we don’t get into the same college?” He worries in between them. He wasn’t ready to give up years of preparation to get into Seoul National or Yonsei on a mere whim. “Is one of us supposed to sacrifice our dream school for the other?” 

“No! Of course not, Kyungsoo. Do you really think I’d ask that of you?” Chanyeol watches him with widened eyes. “Never, would I ever ask you to do that. Ever.” 

He leans down and pecks his forehead before twisting his head to look into his eyes. “Okay?” Chanyeol says. 

“Okay.” Kyungsoo smiles at him and snuggles closer. 

“Also, we can’t really know until we get there, Kyungsoo. Like, I would never ask that of you regardless, but we can’t cross a bridge we haven’t gotten to yet.” Chanyeol pecks him on the mouth, grinning. That makes sense to Kyungsoo.

“I know, I just… I think we should talk about big things like this. Have a plan or something ready for just in case.” Kyungsoo says in a small voice. 

“Understandable, but I really don’t think planning will be fruitful until we know completely what we're dealing with.” Chanyeol says calmly. “Does that make sense or am I being an idiot?” 

Kyungsoo laughs, “No, that makes perfect sense.” 

“The real question is do you have plans for tonight?” He laughs under his breath into Kyungsoo’s neck, leaving kisses as he works his way down. Chanyeol slides his hands along the smaller’s waist, fingers gently dancing across his soft abdomen. “Fuck, I love this so much.” He groans.  
Kyungsoo shivers. They never talked about this before. 

Kyungsoo was trying not to melt in his arms, but the way he was sucking marks down the side of his neck was just turning him to putty. He threw his head back and moaned, and before he knew it, Chanyeol was hovering over him with those wandering hands trailing everywhere. 

“Mm, Chanyeol! W-We should really talk a-about this first.” Kyungsoo groans as Chanyeol grinds their fronts together, the heat delicious. “W-Wait, ‘Yeol!” 

His arms laced around the taller’s neck and pulled him closer, fingers carding through his dark locks. “Tell me if you want me to stop,” Chanyeol grinds harder, gasping into his ear and whining at the heat. “But it feels so good, ‘Soo.” He groans.

A haze sinks over them, lust entangling them in the sheets as Chanyeol holds himself up on his forearms. It’s sweaty and hot and beautiful with Kyungsoo writhing at the pleasure and Chanyeol whining at the friction until they’re breathless, frotting together until they’re lost in love. Climbing and clawing at release until they’re falling into one another’s arms, wrapped in tender sweet kisses and stained jeans.

+++

As it comes full circle, it turns out Chanyeol was right after all. Again. 

The following year when their acceptance letters come in, Kyungsoo barges into Chanyeol’s room with a massive smile on his face and waving three A4 envelopes for each of the SKY schools with his name on each of them, bearing large print exclaiming, “Congratulations!” Chanyeol grins and reaches into his nightstand pulling out three of his very own. 

All the hard work pays off after all. 

It’s a big moment for them, realizing they’d be spending the next four years together too. They celebrated in the form of their two families going out to a big dinner with their entire STEM group who also accepted admission to Yonsei (it was truly a miracle they all got in). After, Chanyeol drove Kyungsoo around downtown until they ended up at a movie theatre til the early hours of the morning, making out in the back row.

Now, in his senior year of university, he wouldn’t have done it any different looking back. There was something beautiful about the way he fell in love with Chanyeol. There were infinite things beautiful about that tall curly-haired boy who was picking him up in fifteen, but their story told you everything you’d ever need to know about them. 

Love was hard, and it takes time, but it’s worth it. Every second. 

Kyungsoo can testify.

**Author's Note:**

> WAAH thanks for reading! wow!!! you made it through! uhh if you wanna talk, u can always leave me a cc, comment, or stop by my [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/xiuwusoo) ! if u enjoyed please leave some kudos or a comment if you're feelin' spicy. 
> 
> thank u SO much and i hope you have a great day!!


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